Maintaining the Order
by Larissa Gates
Summary: Thana is an Exorcist amongst the Black Order, and also one of their top prodigies. But as Exorcist Allen comes into the picture, chaos unravels with the Millennium Earl's plot and the Noahs' appearance. Can she be of help to keep the peace? Kanda/OC
1. And So Her Day Begins

My eyes shot open as I sat up in panic. That didn't really happen, did it? I looked down to my hands trembling at the horrible atmosphere of the dream. No. That nightmare. My body was shaking all over, my heart beating sporadically in my chest. How much more of this can my body take?

"Thana?"

Not expecting anyone else in the room, I panicked, grabbing whatever was closest to me (which was a pillow) and throwing it towards the direction of the voice. I hid underneath my arms as my mind was still not stable enough to realize I was awake and out of that hell of a dream.

"Did you have another bad dream?"

The tone was automatically familiar to me as I looked up to see Reever standing there with the discarded pillow in his hand. At least I could breathe easier now, "I'm sorry Reever. I didn't mean to hit you."

Unfortunately, Reever wasn't exactly the most skilled at dodging last minute since I could see a few feathers sticking out of his hair and such.

Oops.

"It's all right. Just making sure that you're okay."

I nodded before swinging my legs over the bed, "I'm fine now. Just . . . a little spooked still. But I'm fine now." I could see reluctance on Reever's face as he kept his sluggish smile. He really had no reason to worry over me; I've just been having some really bad dreams lately. "So just what are you doing in here anyway?"

"Well, given that I could hear you yelling from down the hall, I made my here to see if you were all right." My face flushed at the fact that I was yelling – not too sure if it was from embarrassment or pure shock that I was blushing, "Was I really yelling? That loud?"

He confirmed it with a nod as he kept his stance near the door, "That's the reason I'm here. Lately, it seems that these dreams of yours have been getting worse with each week." The flushing came back as I looked away to the side. I didn't even realize I had been yelling! And for him to hear me out in the hall . . ! My entire body flushed in embarrassment as I hid underneath the covers, "I'm so sorry Reever! I didn't mean to worry you!"

Reever shook his head before snatching the covers off, revealing me hugging my knees. I looked up at Reever, seeing the obvious worry in his eyes as he sat down next to me, "Thana, if you keep this up, you're bound to wear yourself out. What happens if you're called out on another mission but can't function properly cause of a nightmare? You have to tell me these things; otherwise they'll just make you a burden for others around you."

I stretched my legs out, leaning back on my arms. He was right – I mean it was a part of his job as my guardian (as assigned by Komui) to constantly worry about me. But, nonetheless, I didn't want to end up being a burden to everyone. "I guess you're right. But for right now, can I just go get some food?"

Reever shook his head as he petted my head, "Always thinking with your stomach first. You haven't changed one bit." I smiled before shooing him out of the room, explaining that I'd change before going with him to the cafeteria. After pulling on some more decent clothing (I was sleeping in a night slip. Not too decent for public), I closed the door behind me as I walked with Reever down to the cafeteria. Lining up to the window, I held my tray up to Jerry with a smile, "Hey Jerry!"

"Thana! It's always so nice to see you! What would you like today?"

"A bacon and egg sandwich, a broccoli and bacon quiche, 9 sweet yogurts, 13 whole wheat pancakes, a tomato scallion omelet, 10 baked tomatoes with bacon and egg, cheddar-swiss strata, mashed potatoes, 3 corn on the cobs, French toast, 7 buttermilk biscuits, scrambled eggs, 4 Belgian waffles, and a glass of strawberry milk please ." I could feel the disbelief radiating off of Reever as Jerry stuffed my tray with the food I had asked for.

"Come back whenever you're hungry ." I waved back before searching for an empty spot and settled at a table nearby with Reever across from me. He started at the large amount of food as I started eating. "I swear your stomach's gonna kill you one day."

"That's not very nice!" Due to the stuffed food in my mouth, I probably sounded like an old person without their dentures. Shoving a napkin up my mouth, Reever gave me a look as he sat back down, "Have you ever seen yourself eat? You act like you haven't had a meal in weeks! Really, don't you think you should be a little more proper when eating?" Taking the time to chew and swallow my food, I drunk some milk before speaking, "It's not my fault. That last mission really tired me out. Plus, due to this arm, I can't help but eat a lot. And it doesn't help that I have a fast metabolism."

"That doesn't excuse your manners."

". . ." I knew he was right as he spoke the truth. In reality, I had to eat my food quickly before I even got this innocence, let alone joined up with the Black Order. Due to certain conditions with my mom . . .

While I was eating (fast, but in a more decent manner for Reever), me and Reever were having some small talk before I felt a familiar aura behind me.

"Buta." Right as I was, I turned around to see Kanda looking down on me with his usual sneer expression, "What?"

"We got sparring today. So hurry up and eat." Turning back around, a wave of anger set over me as I ate the rest of my food (although, it was in a harsh manner. Sorry Reever) before standing up next to Kanda, "I'm not a pig!"

"I'm sure. Now come on." I waved Reever good-bye as I followed Kanda out of cafeteria.

"You don't always have to be so rude."

"Shut up, you're annoying."

"And you're more annoying by being so rude."

"Then be quiet so that I won't be so rude."

". . ." I just didn't have it in me today to argue with Kanda. Sure, he deserved for me to put him in his place but . . . I was just too tired from that dream to deal with him. I guess he noticed my tiredness as he slowed his walk a bit (not much, but enough to not tire me out completely).

"You can walk a little faster. I'm fine."

"No you're not. And don't lie, saying you are. I don't need you fainting on me and causing me more trouble."

I rolled my eyes, continuing to follow him through the hallways. It probably wasn't until another three or four minutes passed that Kanda spoke again, "Did you have another dream?"

It wasn't entirely unexpected of him to be curious of my dreams. I just get surprised sometimes at the tone of his voice when he asks. It's barely there but it's a tone of concern. Nice to know he's not entirely heartless.

"Yeah. Reever came into my room this morning claiming that I was yelling. It makes it even worse that he could hear me down the hall from my room –."

"THIS GUY IS OUT OF HERE!"


	2. Allen Joins the Order!

"THIS GUY IS OUT OF HERE!"

The Gate Keeper's voice boomed throughout the entire building. Automatically, both me and Kanda sprinted off to confront whatever Akuma had managed to sneak its way here.

"Damn it! Stay here Buta!"

"I'm coming with you! You might need backup!"

"You'll just be a nuisance!"

"Decide that after we get to the Gate!" Kanda didn't reply as we jumped out the window, landing on the top of the Gate. Turned out the invader was just a boy: white hair (which was odd since he didn't look any older than 13 or 14.), a scar over his left eye, and a weird looking golem following him on his shoulder. From his height, he didn't look that much shorter than me. And since I was barely over Lenalee's height, he was pretty short in my eyes. Was this really an Akuma? Looking at him, I got confused as to why I was feeling a sense of Akuma coming from him. But he clearly wasn't one. Still, for both me and Kanda's sake, I decided to just wait on top of the Gate and see if anything fishy happened.

"You sure have courage, coming here alone . . ." Kanda said, preparing Mugen.

The boy paled as he realized the situation he was in, "W-Wait a minute! I think you've mistaken me for --."

Kanda didn't bother waiting for him to finish as he attacked him. I noticed that as he brought down Mugen, the boy's arm transformed into a bigger arm, using it for a shield. I guess Kanda got confused too as he stood there asking, "You . . . What's with that arm?"

". . . This is an Anti-Akuma weapon. I'm an Exorcist."

"What??"

Both me and Kanda (and I'm sure everyone else watching in the Laboratory) stood there in shock at what the "invader" said. Then again, he could be lying. . . I could feel the wave of anger rising in Kanda as he snapped at the Gate Keeper.

"But . . . Well, if I can't determine his insides, how can we know for sure~?! What if he is an Akuma~?!" The Gate Keeper's voice got more shaky as he tried to explain himself to Kanda.

The boy started pounding on him as he explained himself, "I'm a human! Well, to tell the truth, I'm a tiny bit cursed, but still!"

"Aah~! Don't touch me, dimwit~!"

Looking back at Kanda, I could tell he was getting impatient as he readied Mugen, "Hn . . . Well, whatever. If I check your insides, we will know for sure!"

Mugen activated, shocking the boy as Kanda prepared to strike.

"I shall slice you with this Mugen." Kanda charged at the intruder.

"Wait! Really! I'm not your enemy! You should've gotten a letter of recommendation from Master Cross!"

Hearing those words, Kanda instantly stopped his attack, with Mugen just a mere centimeter away from the boy's head, "A letter of recommendation . . . from the General?"

"Yes, a letter. Addressed to a person named Komui." Poor guy. I felt sorry for him since it wasn't even his fault that he ended up in this predicament. If Komui was a little bit more organized with his paperwork . . .

"Thana! Stop Kanda at once!" My ears were ringing at the loud volume of one of the golems flying up to me. Did they have to be so loud with it? "Got it. Ow . . ."

Jumping down, I pulled the boy away from Mugen while looking at Kanda, who looked both irritated and confused, "They're going to open the gate for him."

"O-Open the gate~?"

We stood there as the gate opened with Reever's voice broadcasting out of the golem: "We allow you to pass, Allen Walker."

Unfortunately, Kanda still didn't trust the boy as he pointed Mugen at him (even though he hid behind me, so it was pointed at me).

I was starting to get irritated too as I yelled, "Wait a minute, Kanda!"

"Komui . . . What's going on here?"

"And be right this time please." I didn't need another surprise today. This was already wearing me out enough mentally.

"I'm sorry~. Simply put, this child is the Cross General's pupil. Say sorry, Reever Squad Leader. Go on, go on. / YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT WAS ALL MY FAULT! / Timcampy is with him. That's proof enough that he's on our side."

Kanda stood there with an air of distrust still surrounding him as he stared at Allen. That is, until Lenalee hit his head with a clipboard, "Gosh~. I told you to stop! If you don't come in soon, I'm closing the Gate!" Both Kanda and the boy just stared disbelievingly at Lenalee. Kanda, I think for letting her hit him with a clipboard; and Allen for the fact that Kanda could be put in his place so easily by a girl.

"Go in!" We all got inside with the Gate closing behind us. I could tell by Kanda's face that he was getting more aggravated as the seconds passed by; which meant that my ass was going to be handed to me in training.

"I am Lenalee, the Assistant to the Supervisor. I'll be taking you to him."

Relieved to find someone nice and welcoming, Allen thanked her, "Nice to meet you."

I started following Kanda out of the room, ready to get training over with, until Allen called his name, ". . . That was your name, right?"

He automatically felt the atmosphere intensify as Kanda glared at him from across his shoulder. I guess he tried to be brave, despite appearances, and be nice, "Nice to meet you."

"Who the hell would want to shake hands with a cursed person?" I rolled my eyes at his bad mood as he walked away – although, those words were harsh. Poor Allen just stood there with a heavy air surrounding him at the discrimination of the words.

"I'm sorry. He just got back from his mission and he's a bit tired." Deciding to side with my better judgment, I shook his offered hand and smiled at his shocked face, "I'll just replace Kanda's greeting, instead. I'm Thana; a fellow Exorcist."

He smiled as he shook my hand back, "Allen Walker."

I nodded my head before making my way back toward Kanda. And judging by his earlier tone, training was going to be intense. Especially since he was forced to walk away from a potential fight. I decided to pick up the pace as I ran through the hallways, spotting him just ahead with that same sneer on his face. I slowed down next to him as I followed him inside the training room. Closing the door behind us, he stripped out of the jacket as he walked to the center of the room. Maybe he would try to ignore the previous events and go easy on me since he did just get back from a mission today.

"Buta. Get over here."

My spine shivered with the intensity of his voice as I walked up to Kanda's turned back. He turned around to face me, a scary smirk on his face as he readied his hand on Mugen.

Nope, he was pissed as ever.

"You better make up for that Moyashi's interference."

This was definitely not my day.


	3. Sweet Treats Bring Sour Results

My eyes took their sweet time opening as the sunlight entered through the window. After last night, I needed the rest – thankful for the lack of any dream interferences. Kanda was actually more pissed than I thought he was. Not only did he work on my swordsman skills, he used Mugen while it was activated and kept attacking me relentlessly. But I could only used my Innocence once per round. And now I have some new scars to add to my body.

Great.

Well, at least whatever anger he couldn't take out on me he's taking it out now in his morning training sessions.

But bad thoughts aside, my mind drifted off to wonder how Allen was doing adjusting to the place. And from what Lenalee told me last night, he's a parasitic-type. Just like me.

"He'll just love Jerry and his home-cooking then." Laughing at the thought, I sat up, grunting a bit at the soreness I felt. Kanda was rougher than I thought. Taking a few breaths with each stretch, my body adjusted to the soreness as I managed to change clothes without too much difficulty. After sliding into my boots, I walked out of my room and made my way to the cafeteria. As soon as I walked into the room, I spotted Allen and Kanda glaring at each other with a fiery hatred. I could practically feel the heat from across the room.

"Hey Allen!" Turning away from Kanda, he smiled at me as I came up to him, "I trust you're starting to like the place."

"Uh . . . Yeah. I'm getting along pretty well."

"Kanda excluded, of course." I could feel Kanda snap his glare at me over Allen's shoulder but I just ignored it as I kept my attention on Allen, "Well, if you ever need any help with anything, I'll be here to assist you."

Glad for the advice, he nodded his head, but felt a little disturbed at the glares that Kanda was giving the back of his head.

"Kanda! Allen!"

Looking over, I saw Reever and Lenalee over in the hallway. "Eat your food in 10 minutes and come to the Command Post. You've got a mission! Hey Thana!"

I waved as they walked away and sat down next to Allen after he got his food and started eating the giant mountain pile of food on his plate. Peeking over at Kanda, I saw he was irritated again as he looked at Allen's eating manners with disgust.

"Did the morning training go well for you Kanda?"

He just scoffed at the question and looked away, "Annoying little brats."

"I'm almost the same age as you!"

"But you're not. You're just a brat."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to Allen, who had nearly cleaned out his entire dish. God, he was one hell of a fast eater. Almost faster than me. "So, Allen. I notice you have a little bit of a British accent. Are you originally from Britain? And chew and swallow before you answer."

Following my instructions, he swallowed his food before replying, "Yes, I was born and raised in London."

"Hm. That's nice. I was raised in America, but originally born in Italy. Weird, huh?"

"That actually sounds pretty cool. I was actually going to ask about your accent."

"Hehe. You'd think so. As for my accent, it's barely there. You'd have to have a pretty good ear to hear it." So far, I could tell that me and Allen were going to get along pretty well. He's really friendly, polite, and isn't a smart ass like Kanda.

"So how old are you?"

"15."

My eyes widened at the young age, "Really? So you've been training with General Cross for – what – three, four years now?"

"About three, but yes."

"Wow. Impressive." Looking down at his left hand, I thought back to Kanda's attack on him last night, "How's your arm?"

He lifted his hand into view, looking more at the Cross than his hand, "It's fine. Komui fixed it up for me when I got there. The anesthesia made it difficult to move, but it fully healed this morning."

"Hm . . . Now you're aware of the consequences of injuring your arm, huh?" I could see shivers go up his spine as his face paled. Laughing at his reaction, I combed back red strands of hair with my hand as I noticed the pentacle on his forehead, right over his left eye. Turning his head to me, I kept my eyes on the mark, asking, "Do you mind?"

He shook his head, letting me satisfy my curiosity as I traced the mark down his eye. It didn't feel like a scar made from a cut or scrape. It was like someone had just drawn on his face, having it there on his face without any bumps or dents.

"So it's your left eye that's cursed. I was wondering why I felt the essence of an Akuma from you. Well, not fully. But I found it weird that I felt it there to begin with."

"Yeah. I was cursed by an Akuma when I realized my arm was a weapon."

"Hm . . ."

It was clear that he didn't want to talk about his past, so I didn't push it any further. I stood up and walked away, "Well, I have to go. See you later Allen! Bye Kanda-kun!"

"Don't call me that!!"

I laughed to myself as I rounded out of the cafeteria toward . . . Nowhere. It hadn't hit me until I got out of the cafeteria that I had nothing to do for the rest of the day. Or days, now that I think about it. More than likely, Komui called in both Allen and Kanda for a mission somewhere halfway around the globe, so they wouldn't be back for a while. I either had the options of spending time with Reever, Lenalee, Komui, or groups from the Science Department . . .

Cross out Science Department; they just sleep on their job anyway. I would like to talk with Lenalee more but she has more free time at the end of the day, when's she's not tired or exhausted, to talk to me. And Komui's always swamped with paperwork – which he never does. And Reever . . . I don't think he'd have the time to hang with me.

I couldn't help but groan a little at how bored I was going to be for the next couple of days.

Or weeks . . .

Hell, it might even be months.

"Heh. Kind of makes me wish I was training with Kanda right now. At least that way, the day would go by quicker. Man, this sucks."

It made it even worse that by the time I got to my room, my stomach had growled in my ear.

I had forgotten to get food while I was in the cafeteria!

Streams of tears poured from my eyes as I was hit with a wave of Bad Luck Syndrome.

"Damn my short attention-span timing . . ." Turning back around, I closed the door behind me as I walked back out into the hallway. Along the way, I started punching my stomach, growling in frustration, "Damn stomach! Why didn't you remind me earlier?" After a while, I stopped and rubbed at the new bruises I had put on it.

"Ow. Okay, not my best idea."

"Thana!" Looking over my shoulder, I saw Natalie running up to me with her curly blonde hair bouncing behind her as she ran up to me, "I'm so glad I caught you! Do you have time?"

"Well, actually –."

"Good! Let's go!" Grabbing my hand, she dragged me along as she ran through the building, upstairs to the Science Department. My tears came flowing back as my stomach grumbled at the involuntary act.

'It's not like it's my fault, stomach! She just came and dragged me with her~!' To make things worse, the soreness started coming back as she pushed me ahead of her into the Laboratory as she closed the door behind her, "I found her!"

Since I had landed non-too gracefully on the floor, I looked up to see the scientists working at their desks. Johnny peeked over at me, realizing it was me and helped me up since I didn't make an effort to get up, "Thana! Are you all right?"

"I was playing dead. Tell Natalie that I need food first." Complying at my request, my stomach growled, sending the room into silence at just how hungry I was. Panicking, Johnny looked to Natalie with concern, "Natalie! She's a parasitic-type! She needs to eat or else she'll die!"

'It's not that bad.' But I kept the thought to myself as Johnny set me down on a nearby couch. I didn't need whatever research done on me by that crazy woman. Now that I think about it, why hadn't I seen this coming from the beginning?

"Someone go get her something to eat!"

"What does she eat?"

"Just tell Jerry to fix it up for Thana!"

I heard the door slam shut as I closed my eyes. Hopefully this will convince Natalie that I'm not in the best shape right now for experimentation.

"Thana! Can you hear me?"

I peeked open my eye at Johnny, seeing that he was hunched over me in concern. My heartstrings tore as I instantly felt guilty for making him feel bad for nothing. I didn't want him to worry over me if it was nothing serious. I'd rather go through Natalie's extreme "experiments" than see him so troubled over me.

'He's lucky he's so adorable.'

Sitting up, I ignored Johnny's requests for me to lie back down as I looked at Natalie from across the room, who was raising her eyebrow at me with a clearly pissed off look. Her aquamarine orbs intensified as she looked ready to punish me for my false actions.

So, she'd seen through it this whole time.

Damn.

Getting prepared for the worst, I patted Johnny's head as I smiled, "I'm sorry Johnny. I didn't mean to make you worry about me. But I'm fine, really. I just need some food, that's all."

His tears stopped and I withdrew my hand, thinking he had finally calmed down. Getting up from the couch, I walked over to Natalie and her obviously irritated expression as she pulled my ear, leading us both out of the room. "Ow!"

"Shut up. I was just gonna have you help us with some organizing around the Lab. Jeez. You didn't have to fake sick."

"Seriously? Then why didn't you just say that to begin with?"

"I knew you'd run away if I didn't just take you there myself."

She finally let go of my ear as I fell to the floor in disbelief. After all of that and she wasn't even planning on torturing me today! I really was cursed with Bad Luck Syndrome. Poor Johnny. Now I really felt bad for making him worry over nothing. As I stood up, I walked with her as I noticed we were going further downstairs and not toward one of her experimentation rooms.

Wasn't I going to get punished for expecting the expected but instead getting the unexpected as a result of being suspicious of the expected?

"Natalie?"

"We're going to the cafeteria. You said you were hungry, right?"

"Yeah but . . . Don't you plan on doing _something_ to me today?"

Touching her chin in thought, she shook her head, "No. I think seeing Johnny's reaction today is punishment enough for you today." I was slightly thankful for the fact that I wasn't going to be tested on today, but I took note of the "today" part. This meant I would have to do some major hide-and-seek for the next couple of days.


	4. Komrin, Komui, It Figures

Buzzing and drilling was all the noise I heard for the last hour or so as I sat in the Laboratory with him, a few other scientists, and Lenalee. From what I had last heard, Allen should getting home some time either later on tonight or tomorrow morning. I was mostly glad for that information, but as for the latest experiment of Komui's . . . I've just never had a good feeling with his new ideas.

From the looks of the others around me, they were all exhausted at Komui's constant work for them to do. But thankfully, Lenalee and I were there to serve coffee to help them stay awake.

"Anyone want coffee?"

Everyone in the room raised their hand as they were too exhausted to speak, barely.

"Hey~! Is everyone awake? Look, look!"

All of us turned our attention to Komui as he gestured to his now finished invention.

"Ta-da~! Our science group's savior, "Komrin II"!"

I questioned what happened to the first, but decided it's better if I didn't know. It was a giant robot that had the same beret on it as Komui had, worn the exact same way. Did everything he make have to be an image of him?

"Supervisor, what's that unnecessarily bulky robot?" asked Reever, looking just as skeptical as everyone else in the room.

Komui just flaunted around, explaining himself while proclaiming how cool it was, "I just told you, it's Komrin. I just finished building it." I walked up next to Lenalee as I got a closer look at the robot. I was starting to get a bad feeling about it as I looked at the huge bulky robot version of our Supervisor.

"He has my brain and personality. He's in innocent-made omnipotent robot~ ! He can not only decrypt files, but he has surgical and care support for Anti-Akuma weaponry." With the scientists hanging off of his every word, he won their hearts, saying, "It's another me! Now it'll make our work easier!"

That said, the scientists crowded him with love as Komrin took a cup of coffee off of Lenalee's tray, drinking the whole thing empty. And that bad feeling sparked throughout my entire body as Lenalee tried telling it that it was her brother's coffee. I may not be a professional expert on robots, but aren't they supposed to avoid getting wet from any type of liquid except for oil? At least, that's what I assume . . .

I called out at Komui, not moving my eyes from Komrin, "Hey Komui? Is Komrin supposed to drink coffee?"

"What are you saying, Thana? Although I said it's 100% like me, Komrin is a robot. Of course it can't drink coffee."

His words sunk into our heads as we realized the situation we were in.

He had to make it just like him. Even with his like for coffee . . .

"It drank it . . ?"

No sooner than that did Komrin start malfunctioning, sticking a syringe into Lenalee, knocking her out instantly as she fell to the floor.

"Lenalee!!" Komui ran up to Lenalee's unconscious body, holding her to him with great concern. I stood by the both of them as I watched Komrin's body shake due to its malfunctioning.

"I . . . Am . . . Komrin." Komui was shaking on the floor holding Lenalee as I made my way in front of them, preparing my Anti-Akuma weapon. "I make exorcists stronger . . . Those two women are exorcists . . . Therefore, I must perform surgery and make them macho."

Everyone in the room yelled in an outburst, "WHAT?!!"

I didn't want to be turned to a buff bodybuilder!

"Run!" Not too soon after I said that, Komrin chased me around the room as I tried escaping since he seemed focused to get to me.

"Thana!"

I turned back toward Komui, deflecting Komrin's arm at the same time, "Take Lenalee and the others and go to the elevator! He won't be able to get to you all there!"

Jumping out of the way of the syringe, I jumped over Komrin while running out into the building, yelling at anyone else around me to runaway, especially the exorcists. I could hear Komrin go at full throttle as he chased me through the halls, knocking out anyone who had been in his way or ignored my warning, peeking out to see what it was I was yelling about.

'Damn curiosity! Stay out of the hall people!' I made a sharp turn, trying to take the most deserted hallways to avoid anyone getting hurt in the process as I kept on running around, trying to keep everyone else safe from this crazy robot for as long as I could. Good thing I ate a full meal before going with Lenalee. Dodging one of his arms, I jumped over it as he continued chasing me through the long corridors. I thanked my quick thinking for choosing one the least used halls in the building since his arm was practically a bulldozer as he constantly attacked me with that syringe, over sending me over the balcony. Looking down, I saw Komui gathering everyone into the elevator. Glad to know that mostly everyone was safe, I looked back at Komrin with the syringe still aimed at me.

"I've had enough of this! Innocence Activate!"

My right arm activated, extending itself into a white-scaled scythe, the Cross glowing on its black blade. Blocking the syringe from hitting me, I slashed at Komrin, hoping to stop him. Unfortunately, Komui must have added in some battle techniques into him as he dodged all of my attacks and caught my scythe with his arm. Shit. Now I was squirming like a worm, trying to get free while at the same time trying not to get hit with that syringe.

For all I knew, that syringe might've had that "macho" stuff in it. Then for Lenalee . . .

My arm tingled as my weapon de-activated, reverting back into my arm as I all of a sudden lost feeling in the entire right side of my body. 'Double shit!' Knowing that I'd be knocked out in a second, I tried moving some as he let go of my arm. But I lost my footing as I fell over the balcony, losing consciousness along the way.

'Damn you Komui! If I turn into a guy, I'm so kicking your ass!'

Then I faded into black . . .

* * *

I jumped up with a start, still on high senses since that last thing I remembered was being chased throughout the building by Komrin and his needle of "macho". Looking down at myself, I saw that I was still my same self with the same black dress pants and white shirt. No bulging muscles, no feeling of testosterone in my system, and I didn't have the need to go and work out till daybreak. So assumed I was still the same sex and gender (there is a difference) as I felt a hand press against my forehead, "You okay, Thana?"

Looking up, I saw Lenalee (I almost cried out in joy when seeing her cute, non-macho self) smiling at me while withdrawing her hand, "At least your fever went down."

"I had a fever?"

"You did, but only for a few minutes or so. I guess it's cause your body was still stressed while still under the effect of the anesthesia."

"Hm . . . Well, I feel fine now." Remembering what happened before I lost consciousness, Lenalee jumped as I stood up from the couch, looking for the gigantic lunatic of a robot, "Where's Komrin?"

"He's gone. I destroyed him."

"Oh. That's good." Sitting back down on the couch, I noticed Allen was laying down on the opposite end from me, "When did he get back?"

"Some time while you had Komrin chasing you through the building."

I laughed at the memory, leaning back against the couch as she starting changing washcloths on his head, "But that was a failure, huh?"

"Not really. It would've been more troublesome if you hadn't. The damage was pretty bad, looking back at the trail you left, but otherwise, not a lot of people were hurt in the process since you managed to avoid having him hurt a lot of people by going where there wasn't anyone around."

"Yeah . . . But we know whose fault this whole thing is."

"Komui." We both stated as Allen sat up with a start, making both of us jump in surprise.

"That was a surprise." Looking at us both, he kept the cloth to his forehead as he looked around confused, "Thana . . . Lenalee . . ."

"Sorry about my brother's invention." Lenalee apologized.

"Where am I?"

"The Public Laboratory. Everyone's gone to repair the damage. Hear that sound?" Now that I paid attention, I could hear some noises going on nearby.

Lenalee handed him something in a glass case, "This was in your coat."

"Ah! The Innocence!" So Allen must've came back with the Innocence while Kanda went on to complete another mission. I was beginning to wonder why he came back without him. Relieved, Allen heaved a sigh as he relaxed, "I'm glad it's not broken."

Patting his head, I smiled at him, "You should take it to Hebraska's place. She'll protect it."

Both me and Lenalee gave him a proper greeting from his mission, "Welcome back, Allen."

Obviously not expecting the greeting, he was shocked, "I'm . . . I'm back."

My smile didn't fade as I watched Jerry and the other scientists come over with Jerry complaining about doing carpentry when he's a chef – which ended with no breakfast for the scientists.

Reever was the first to notice Allen, "Oh. Allen, you're awake?"

Jerry seemed a bit agitated at everything that happened, "What happened during the night, Allen? This place is trashed."

Johnny leaned in and whispered, "Allen, your room was destroyed."

"What?!" Aside from his outburst, everyone gave him the same proper greeting with, "Welcome back, Allen!"

Standing up, I led Allen out of the Laboratory as I led him to Hebraska's room, "So, starting to like your new home, Allen?"

"Yeah. But I bet the greetings don't last that long since I'm new around here."

"Nonsense! Every time you come back from a mission, everyone will greet you like you'd greet your dad after coming home." I didn't hear a reply as I looked over to see Allen in another mind space while we were walking, "Allen?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. I understand if you're tired." I decided to change the direction of the conversation by asking him how the mission went and everything. He said that the Innocence was actually in a doll, making it come alive, caring for an old man with a facial deformity for 50 years. After hearing about the fighting and arguing, I took notice that as he was describing everything, he seemed really at ease. He'd only been with us for less than a week and he already started seeing us as a family. I kind of felt jealous for his easy-going attitude.

"Thana?"

"Hm?" Looking, I saw Komui in front of us, waving his hand in front of my face, "You were a little out of it. I was saying that I'll take Allen with me now."

Snatching his hand, I tightened my grip on it as he fell to his knees, "No . . . More . . . Robots."

"Ah! Okay, okay! I promise!" Releasing his hand, I smiled at the now scared Allen, waving at him, "Well, Komui can take it from here. See ya later, Allen." Walking away, Allen watched me as Komui stood up, holding his hand in pain. "She's . . . scary when she's mad."

"Yes. That's our Thana. But aside from her rare anger, she's one of our best Exorcists. And such a lovely young lady for Lenalee to see as an idol~ ."

Quick to refrain from losing his professional stature from before, he cleared his throat. "So it's best that you look up to her, Allen. She could answer some questions you may have regarding your arm." Allen felt surprised to now that she was one of best around HQ.

Looking back at me, he looked at my right arm before asking, "Those scars and bruises on her hand. How'd she get those?"

"So you noticed . . ." Komui followed his gaze to my gloved hands as his eyes glazed over as he had a silent thought to himself.

"That's something you'd have to ask her yourself. As my job of Supervisor, I cannot reveal personal information without that person's consent. Or at least, with certain things they don't want me to share with others."

"I see." Watching me turn out of his view, Allen felt sympathy for whatever story lied behind that smile of mine.


	5. Mission in Russia

"I have a mission?"

Nodding his head, Komui supplied the case file as he gave the details with another Exorcist sitting next to me. He was taller than me with brown eyes, curly brown hair held back into a ponytail as he held a nonchalant expression on his face the entire time.

"Thana, you and Abbott here will be heading out to Russia to retrieve a newly discovered Innocence there. At least, that's what we were told." Something told me that Komui hadn't done all of the research needed to really make my partner and I fully confident that this whole trip wouldn't be a total waste.

Abbott decided to speak up, "What were you able to find out?" He had a very mellow tone to his voice, adding more to his lack-a-daisy stature.

"From what our resources tell us, there's a town near Southeast Russia that's been overrun by Akuma for the past three days. Our Asia Branch has been taking care of it, but they're requesting some back-up. So one of you will have to stay in Russia and help them fight off the Akuma while the other comes back with the Innocence they contained."

I couldn't help but feel a little taken back at the mission. As much as I was willing to stay and help the Asia Branch with their overload of Akuma, I wasn't fully willing to leave from HQ for a long period of time. But then again, I'd be bored if I decided to stay here with nothing to do. Plus, there's no guarantee that Lenalee, Allen, and Kanda aren't gonna go off on another mission as soon as I get back.

Might as well . . .

"Supervisor, I'll be the one to stay in Russia." Komui glanced at me for a second before shooing us away to get ready, "Don't forget your case file. That is all."

Grabbing said file from off of his desk, I walked with Abbott out of the Command Post as I weaved through the data. Apparently, the Akumas' numbers have doubled in the last couple of days. Since most of the Exorcists are out on other missions, they need backup until they can gain back control over the situation. More than likely, this was probably going to take about three weeks or so before I'll be coming back to HQ.

Great.

"You seem stressed."

I looked up at Abbott's lazy-like figure as I shrugged my shoulders, "I suppose. I'm almost regretting on my decision to stay in Russia."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"It's my job. I'm an Exorcist and I need to do what's best for everyone else's safety. Had I decided to come back just to stay at HQ, I would've felt guilty for making a decision solely for my benefit. So it's better than I'm stressed and home-sick than guilt-ridden at home."

It was pretty nice of Abbott to try and lighten the mood with some small conversation. But I had to remember that I was an Exorcist first before anything else.

That is my given purpose in the Black Order: to protect the Innocence and to save those from the Akuma.

* * *

"You're going off to Russia?"

I nodded my head as I walked back with Allen to the Underground Waterway. "I'm not too sure on when I'm going to be back, so I just thought it was best to let you know now." Plus, there was the fact that I didn't fully trust Komui to remind Allen that I wouldn't be here to train him.

"Oh. So, do I train by myself?"

"No. You're going to train with Kanda while I'm not here."

I saw his jaw drop, obviously wanting it to be anyone but Kanda training him. After Allen was with us for about a month, I was assigned to be Allen's trainer for the past two months. He was very good with his offense and defense; he just wasn't too bright with strategizing around his enemies' attacks. In other words, he needed work with planning ahead on his attacks.

"Kanda?!"

"I know you both aren't on good terms, but it's about your training. After all, you wouldn't want to be the weak link on a mission, would you?" Reluctantly, he nodded his head as his cheeks puffed up like a child, muttering, "Still wish it was someone else."

Smiling, I hugged him around the shoulders, catching him off-guard, "Thana?"

"If you don't, I'll make sure Komui has a lot to repair on your arm when I get back. Okay?"

Patting his head, I kept on walking, seeing Abbott waiting at the doorway for me. I waved back at Allen's stunned state before walking down the stairs with Abbott as the door closed behind us. We came down to the boat as the Finder greeted us while helping us onto the Gondola, "I'll be assisting you until we reach **новый солнце****. **My name's Gala. It's nice to meet you."

I could tell from the sound of her voice that she was not too much older than me – probably 20 or so – with a Russian accent. This would definitely help us out if they spoke nothing but Russian, that way she could translate for us. I relaxed in the boat as I sat down with Abbott in the Gondola while Gala steered us toward our proper exit.

"Gala, what does," I hesitated, not too sure on how to pronounce the name. So I decided to not to try, "their town name mean?"

"It's means New Sun in English. I apologize if I'm causing you any confusion."

"Oh no, it's fine. I've just never heard Russian before."

"I was raised in Russia with my two sisters. They both worked in the Black Order to help keep me safe from the Akuma."

"Where are your sisters now? Are they waiting for you back in Russia?"

Gala's body stiffened at Abbott's question, but relaxed her composure before rowing again, "You could say that. They were killed by Akuma after being with the Order for six years. So it was the following year after I had decided to join."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She acknowledged my apology as she steered us to a different exit.

"We'll be getting off here and boarding the next train."

Which was the general way of saying: Prepare to run because the train has just left the station.


	6. That Knowing Gaze

After boarding the train (well, more accurately, train hopping), I sat in one of the private cabins with Abbott sitting across from me, going through the case file and Gala asleep next to him. I focused on the passing scenery while thinking about the number of Akuma I'd have to fight.

'We haven't had a lot of trouble with Russia and the Akuma. So there could be a slight possibility that there's more than one Innocence involved. There's probably another one in the town that they haven't been able to get to yet. But whether or not if it's activated, that's the only missing link. But if it was, then the Akuma would know for sure that it's there.'

"Are you okay?"

I looked over at Abbott and jumped a little to find that he was staring straight at me. Talk about staring into your soul.

"I'm fine. Just thinking about the mission."

"Are you sure? You look like you're thinking about some rather troubling thoughts."

'This guy has some good perception skills,' I thought. "I guess I'm just thinking about the numbers I might have to face when I get there. Komui didn't really give us an estimate to start with, so I have to rely on the Order's past experiences with Russia to guess. And since Russia isn't always so prone to Akuma attacks, it makes it that much more frustrating to figure out why the number has increased so much in such a short amount of time."

"So you think that there's another Innocence involved in it, too." I noted that it wasn't directed at me as a question. So he was thinking about the fishiness of the situation too.

"You think it's possible?"

"More than likely. Otherwise, the Akuma just have a bad strike against the town for no real reason. There has to be another Innocence there that they haven't found yet."

I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one feeling this way. But that aside, I still had to decide on how exactly I'd be able to determine the Innocence's location since the Finders in the area couldn't even detect it. Which wouldn't make sense since if it was in the vicinity, the Finders would've found it easily and contained it with the other Innocence. Unless . . .

"It's moving."

"Come again?"

"The Innocence. That's the reason for the large amount of Akuma in the area. Usually in a situation like this, there would only be just a few looking for that one Innocence. But since they only contained one and they just got this ambush of Akuma within the past few days, the Innocence that we assume is there must be moving. Otherwise, the Finders would have surely found it by now."

"That makes sense. But wouldn't it have vacated the town with the arrival of the Akuma?"

"Whoever or whatever carries the Innocence either isn't aware that the Akuma is there or is in hiding. Either way, it's still there, attracting more Akuma as it stays."

Abbott started looking frustrated now as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I wasn't planning on dealing with this detective work. That's the Supervisor's job."

I sympathized with him as I leaned my head against the window, "Maybe if he started paying people for their work, then the extra thinking would already be done with."

We both laughed as the train continued on its tracks. But the feeling soon sobered up as I kept my glance on the scenery. Not only would Abbott have to stay in Russia with me, but we'd have to stay an extra set amount of time to figure out where the hidden Innocence is in New Sun.

** 1 Month Later **

My breath came in short intakes as I kept dodging attacks from a Level 2 Akuma throwing it's juggling clubs at me. It wouldn't matter for too long since we they're aimed for their target, they swing around constantly like boomerangs until they hit their mark.

"**Dance, Exorcist, dance~!**"

'This is why I hate clowns.' I narrowly avoided another club as another one coming up from behind me collided with it, causing an eruption that threw me a few yards away. Looking around, I saw Abbott dealing another set of Level 1's, quickly striking them with his rod.

"Heavy Thunder!" Striking through both Akumas, he instantly destroyed them as he landed away from the explosion.

'Good to see he's useful in battle.'

"**Don't ignore me, girl~!**" Jumping away from another set of clubs, I ran up at the Akuma, readying my scythe as I jumped above it. "Die, you piece of shit! Death Strike!" I lowered my scythe, only to be blocked by its balance beam.

"**You'll have to do better than that~.**" I put more weight into my scythe as I tried to break its defense. Just when I was getting its beam to crack, my leg got pulled into the air as I was now hanging upside down with one of its bells, stretching from its jester hat, holding me by my leg.

"**Oh, dear~. It seems the poor little Exorcist hasn't realized that she's going to die today~.**"

I had to admit, the Akuma had the advantage at this point. I wasn't too used to fighting off the ground, so I was a little disabled at the moment.

"**Bye Bye~ .**" Taking its balance beam, it charged it straight at my abdomen. I could feel a little blood in my mouth from the force of the hit, but was thankful that it hadn't pierced through the skin. Although, it might've injured an intestine or something.

"Like hell I'm gonna let you kill me!" Cutting my leg free from its hat, I managed to block the attack as it sent me through a nearby building, sending me into a wall. I coughed up a little blood, feeling the impact of the crash set into my back. I might've broken a rib or two. I could barely see from the cloud of dust rising out of the debris. Getting my legs to work, I stood up while watching the Akuma roll in on top of its huge ball, still juggling its clubs while laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"**It's the first time I'm having fun with a kill~! You should be honored, girl~!**"

"Tch. I'm only honored at the fact that I get to wipe that ugly-ass smirk off of your face."

It instantly stopped laughing as its smile suddenly grew into a frown, "**I see. You don't enjoy my game at all. THEN DIE~!!**"

Readying my scythe, I charged at it again as I doubled my speed. The Akuma didn't expect that as I quickly gained the upper-hand, sending it back out the building and a few yards away. I didn't feel like making this last any longer as I held my scythe above its head.

"**You cheated~! You cheat, cheat, cheat~!!!**"

"All's fair in war!" Striking down on its head, I jumped back as it disintegrated, releasing the soul in the process. Glad to get my breath back, I checked the area to see Abbott not too far away on his knees. "Abbott?"

Running up to him, I could see that he was bleeding from his arm and leg. Too much bleeding, in fact. "Abbott! You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine. Let's just go and deliver the Innocence back to Bak."

Deciding not to argue until later, I balanced him on my shoulder as I steadied myself. "How are you with high speeds?"

"Not too well."

"Well then close your eyes, because I'm gonna have to run back to the base from here."

"What? That's too far! You'll tire yourself out!"

I smirked as I readied my legs, "It's either that or you sit here dying cause of blood loss." Not giving him the chance to talk back, I ran through the town, quickening my speed as I knew that as soon as this got back to Bak, he'll be so pissed at me.

'Heh. Him and everybody else.'


	7. The Burden of Truth

My breathing was calm and steady as I lay in one of the beds of the hospital. Bandages were wrapped over my torso, ribs, and legs as I was instructed to stay in bed for the next two to three months. After we had found the hidden Innocence (which was inside found inside of a little kid's ball, of all things), we were jumped by some Akuma, two of them being Level 2. On record, I had two broken ribs with a dent in my chest cavity – too close to my heart for comfort; plus I had put too much strain on my legs. Due to all of the stress on my body, my spine had literally left me paralyzed in bed. It wasn't damaged but while my body was healing itself, my spine was forcing me not to move while it did that.

'How nice that my body takes care of itself while forcing me to rest.'

Turning my head, I saw Abbott in the next bed, asleep, with bandages wrapped around his torso, and a cast around his right arm and leg. It turned out that a Level 2 had snuck up on him and attacked his right side with bombs, which both arm and leg had taken the most damage for.

"Thana? Are you awake?"

Looking at the door, I smiled seeing Bak stand there with Fou walking in next to him. Both harboring angry faces – although Fou looks like she wants to kill me. Now I really wish that I weren't paralyzed to the bed.

"Good morn–."

"It's afternoon dumb-ass. What the fuck were you thinking?!"

I expected Fou to lose her temper as much, "Well, I couldn't just let him die there."

"We would've sent someone to get you two! Think straight for once, will ya?!" Bak was holding Fou back – though he was doing a poor job, making me nervous that she's injure me even more. "Fou, stop! She's already injured enough!"

"Like hell she is! I'm tired of these hard-headed Exorcists getting themselves killed!!"

Underneath – and I mean deep, deep, DEEP underneath all of that anger – I knew that Fou was worried over me and Abbott during our time here at the Asia Branch. She'd helped train us and learn the limit and weaknesses of our weapons. So for her to be so furious at me, I understood her position as Bak managed to calm her down, convincing her that if she kept on yelling, she's wake up Abbott.

"Tch. Just watch it next time." Nodding my head, Fou closed the door behind her as Bak stood there with that same angry expression on his face from earlier.

'And now it's Bak's turn.'

"I won't yell at you. But what you did was pretty irrational thinking." Shrugging my shoulders, I looked away across the room, "I didn't know what else to do. Had I waited, he could've bled to death."

"But putting that much stress on your body? Do you know how much worse it could've been?!"

"I could've died. My legs might've given out on me. My injuries could've knocked me unconscious, putting me and Abbott into a more dangerous situation, failing the mission." Bak didn't expect me to answer him – let alone, know the answer. Looking back at him, I smiled, "I'm always aware of everything that could go wrong. That's why I always try to use the most effective way to prevent it." I could see the hesitation in his eyes as he looked at me. I guess I had him at a loss for words.

"By the way, you lied. You said you wouldn't yell at me."

His eyebrow twitched in irritation as he turned away from me, "Just be glad you're alive."

I laughed at his embarrassment, closing my eyes to get in a nap, "Everyday."

After a few silent moments, I heard the door close behind him as Bak left the room.

"You're one hell of a chick."

Opening my eyes, I looked over to see Abbott looking straight back at me.

Déjà vu, much?

But after getting to know Abbott while in the Asia Branch, I had gotten used to this trait of his. Aside from his looks, he was actually pretty smart and would constantly belittle me about how contradicting my personality was. True, I did have a contradicting personality, but that doesn't mean I wanted him to rub it in my face. But along the way, I got to see him as an older brother in a way.

"I thought you were sleep."

"I was. That is, until Fou's mouth opened at full volume."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

He waved me off while looking over across the room, "You make it sound like it's your fault. It's fine. Besides, I needed to wake up from this bad dream anyway."

"You had a bad dream?"

He nodded before yawning, "It was just really weird and creepy. There's nothing around me but black. Just black, nothing else. I can't hear anything, can't feel anything. I'm not even breathing. It's like I'm in an astral plane or something. Then there's this loud cackling laugh and I'm gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone. I don't have any connection with my senses anymore and I'm just gone."

I felt goose bumps rise over my skin at the sound of the dream, "That does sound really creepy."

"But I'm awake now. And probably gonna be able to leave the hospital before you."

"Not surprising. You don't have an involuntary spine forcing you to stay in bed." We both laughed, but I quickly hissed at the instant pain that I felt, "Damn."

"Looks like you can't even laugh at your own pain." Shaking my head, I just stuck my tongue out at Abbott. Even though he wasn't looking at me, I was sure that he saw me.

"That's not very lady-like."

"Sometimes it's best not to act like a lady to get a point across."

"And your point being . . ?"

I couldn't answer, growling at my lack of a comeback.

"Exactly. So just stay in bed like a good girl."

"As soon as I'm out of this bed, I'm so kicking your ass."

". . . Did I mention that you're scary as hell when fighting?"

"More reason for you to worry about me fighting you."

Too worn out to continue the little mini-argument, Abbott went to sleep. Not too long after, Gala came in with the two Innocence in hand as she stood near my bed, "How are you feeling, Miss Thana?"

"I've been through worse. Though this is definitely something new to me." Gala simply shook her head at how lightly I was taking the situation as she patted my hand, "Well, I'm just glad to see you alive. I was quite worried for you when you and Abbott never came back from last night."

A sweat drop appeared on my brow as I laughed nervously, feeling guilty for her worrying over me, "Sorry about that. It's only because we were taken by surprise that we were late coming back is all. And we thought it best to find the Innocence as soon as possible before the Akuma did."

"Miss Thana! If you keep doing things like this to your body, you can get seriously injured – even enough beyond repair!"

Waving her off (in my case, just turning my head away), I kept my tone calm and clear.

"I'm fine now, aren't I? Besides, I've gone through worse things than this. I'll be fine so long as I stay in bed."

Gala stayed quiet as she remained next to my bed. I could feel her gaze getting more intense as her concern for me grew with each passing second. My eyes stayed to the wall as I tried to ignore her silent pleas through her stare. I know she was genuinely worried about me and Abbott. But this all comes with the job of being an Exorcist: you have to be prepared to sacrifice your life in order to complete the mission.

I heard a sigh of defeat from her as she walked back towards the door, "All right Miss Thana. I'll let you rest without my bickering. But please consider others around you on your missions. You're not the only one fighting out there – you don't have to take all of the damage for others. That's why they're there with you: to work together as a team – so that no one is a burden to the mission or each other."

I heard the door close behind her while contemplating over what she said. What was I really that blind-sighted when it came to fighting on missions? Sure, I was aware of the consequences and knew that if I ever took the situation for granted for even a millisecond that could be the end of me.

But that was part of the job, right?

It was my duty of being an exorcist that it's necessary, if need be, that I put myself into that types of position in order to protect those around me and to prevent any of the Akuma from destroying the Innocence.

I was just making sure not to be a burden on others . . .

Wasn't I?

**2 Months Later**

My smile grew wider with each step that I took into HQ, feeling people giving me looks as I passed by them all. Abbott was progressing with me as he walked behind me, shaking his head at how much my mood had changed as soon as we were inside of the building.

Earlier in the Gondola, I wasn't exactly in the greatest mood ever.

**Earlier on the Gondola**

My fingertips brushed lightly against the surface of the water as Gala continued steering us through the Underground Waterway, bringing us closer to HQ as we had just gotten back from our mission. Abbott carried both of the Innocence as he sat across from me, watching my solemn expression with concern etched into his face, "Something you want to talk about?"

My eyes continued staring at the ripples of contact between my fingers and the water. The guilt had sunk in not too long after Gala had talked to me in the hospital. Now I was starting to question on how much I was being selfish in my actions in achieving my goals while never noticing how much I was affecting others around me.

"It's nothing bad. I'm fine."

"That's a lie. Throughout these past three months, I've learned more about you than you think I do."

Damn his sharp intuitions.

The slight twitch of my eyebrow gave me away as he kept pressing the subject further, "So what's wrong?"

". . ." I heard him sigh out of frustration before continuing, "Fine, don't talk. Just be a little brat and sulk in your own depression. I'm just trying to help."

I wasn't aware of just how much his impact of words affected me until I saw a new duo of ripples spread throughout the surface of the water. Knowing it wasn't my fingers, I touched my face to feel wetness on my cheeks and more tears fell into the water, producing more ripples.

"It'd really make you feel better if you talk about it." He must've seen my tears as I could hear the tone of concern in his voice.

Sitting up, I wiped my tears away before looking at him, straight into his eyes, "Am I a burden to you, Abbott?"

His eyes widened with surprise at the question. "What?"

"During the mission, have I . . . caused you more trouble than needed – with anything that I've done?"

"Where's this all coming from?" Leaning toward me, his eyes never left mine as I fiddled with my fingers, hoping that he'd sooner answer my question.

"Please, just answer me. Have I been a burden to you and the mission?"

"No, of course not. If it wasn't for you, I probably would've ended up in a worse position than I was before. Now why the tears?"

Looking down at my fingers, I felt my heart beat furiously with all of these emotions that felt so intense to me. My eyes starting brimming with more tears as I tried to hold them back.

"But had I not decided to be so rash with my decisions, I would've never left you alone with those Akuma and then you would've been fine."

"But that's not what happened, is it? Clearly, you chose the most effective way of defeating them and it worked, didn't it?"

"But your wounds –."

"My wounds are fine. And the past is the past. There's nothing you can do but acknowledge what's already been done and move on with the present." Bringing a hand to my chin, he lifted my head up to meet his eyes, which were starting to look a little glassy. I gasped as his eyes were starting to water with tears, "Abbott!"

"I've never met a person like you in such a long time. You remind me so much of my mother, it scares me: Always putting others before you, having that kindness behind your eyes, and apologizing for things that can't be helped." Tears started falling freely from his face as I started feeling more guilt for causing this pain in having to remember a lost loved one.

Reaching out to his face, I wiped the tears away and smoothed any stray hair strands away as my hand rested on his hair, "I'm so sorry Abbott. Really, I am."

His hand rested on top of mine as he closed his eyes in comfort, "I know you are. Though there's nothing to apologize about." His eyes opened again with such reassurance that it eased the guilt rising in my chest, "But I assure you with this: You, Thana, are no burden. If anything, it's a blessing for the Order to have someone like you around."

My lips curved up into a growing smile as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders in gratitude, "Thank you, Abbott."

His arms did the same as he rubbed my back, helping me calm down some, "Anytime."

**Back with Thana**

"Thana!"

My thoughts were interrupted by a head of red jumping onto me, pressing its new weight against me on the floor. I was a little distorted before my sight re-adjusted itself for me to see an old friend grinning down at me.

"Lavi!"

Glee overflowed within me as I pushed my weight back at him, sending him to the floor with me hugging him on top. I'm sure that those around us were probably giving us a quick curious glance, but thought nothing of it. Since both me and Lavi have such a close resemblance of hair color, people at HQ often get us confused as siblings. But we're not even the slightest bit related (at least, not to my knowledge), just making us really close friends.

His arms circled around me as he sat the both of us up, "How've you been?"

"Great! What are you doing here?"

Gesturing to the oncoming elderly man behind him, his grinned broadened with his usual smug self, "Bookman business – as usual."

Helping the both of us up, Bookman walked up beside him, glaring at Lavi with a scowl. "You're an embarrassment to the Bookman Clan."

"What? I can't say hi to an old friend?" Gesturing to me, Bookman looked back at me, his scorn toward Lavi replaced with a respectful acknowledgment of my presence as he bowed.

"It's nice to see you again, Miss Thana."

I smiled at Bookman while bowing back in respect, "It's nice to see you too, Bookman." It would've been nicer to hug him, but I knew that Bookman wasn't too welcoming to such affectionate things like that, so I respected his limitations of physical contact. Especially with my understanding of the job of being a Bookman.

"Wish I could stay longer and catch up, but I'm leaving with Komui soon to head out to Germany."

"Aw . . . That stinks. What for?" Walking further into HQ, I gestured Abbott to follow before following Lavi and Bookman to Komui's office.

"Apparently, the Noahs have made themselves known and one of them attacked Lenalee and another Exorcist named Allen Walker."

Hearing the names of both my friends, I couldn't help my voice rising in great concern over them as I bombarded him with questions, "What?! What happened? Are you sure? When did this happen? Are they okay?"

Lavi jumped at the sudden amount of questions but knew of my anxiety over my friends' care – it was nothing he wasn't already used to. Resting his hand on my shoulder, he kept me calm while smiling down at me, "They're fine. We're just going now so that we can inform Allen about some things instead of waiting until he gets back for his other mission."

My body eased down with relief as I heard that they were both fine, but I felt a pang of sadness tug at my chest with the words: "other mission".

"So when you go over there, you'll be informing him on his next mission?"

"Pretty much. He must be a nice guy if he's got you all worried over him like this."

I nodded my head as we reached Komui's office, "Yeah. He's a good kid."

The door opened before us as we made our way inside, seeing Komui getting ready to depart with Bookman and Lavi. His serious face loosened with surprise as he saw me and Abbott walk in with them. I could tell that the mention of the Noahs for Komui had gotten him stressed if he had actually looked serious when we were only going to check on Allen and Lenalee.

"Oh! You're back from your mission?"

"Yes, sir. And we've retrieved both of the Innocence."

"Both?"

His eyes darted over to Abbott as he came up to him with both of the Innocence in hand, "We managed to find another one while on the mission to retrieve the already captured Innocence."

"I see. Thank you. You can hang on to those until we visit Hebraska on the way out."

"Supervisor, I know you didn't plan on me tagging along but –."

"You can come too, Thana. I understand your level of concern with both Lenalee and Allen."

For once, I was speechless at Komui with his sudden take of seriousness. That is, until he ran over to me and hugged me tightly with streams of tears poured out of his eyes, going on about how important it was for Lenalee to bond with me, "After all, Lenalee needs her big sister to be there for her ~! To love, adore and –!"

His praise was interrupted by my hand at his neck, cutting off his air supply, "Just stop."

Nodding his head, I let him go with the others around me feeling a little threatened at how easily I got irritated by Komui's antics. Checking to make sure there was no damage to his wind pipe, he signaled us out while I had a sudden thought.

"Um . . . You guys go on ahead to Hebraska. I'll meet you at the door."

Abbott looked curious at my sudden task while everyone else just expected as much. Waving his hand, Komui turned back around with the others following, "You have twenty minutes!"

My mind was now aware of the time as I ran the other way, seeing Abbott's inquiring eyes glance at me before following the others. I didn't slow down for even a second as I gained closer to my destination: The Training Room. Knowing Kanda, he was probably in there, venting out any frustrations he couldn't take out on the Finders. Lucky for me, he preferred the one on the ground floor since it was closer to the cafeteria (he likes to restore his energy after working out).

My footsteps slowed as I opened the door before me, my smile growing as I heard the familiar swipes of Mugen in the air as I closed the door behind me. I waited until after he was done to speak, "You look like you're ready to kick someone's ass."

". . ." My brows furrowed with unease, feeling something wrong as he refused to face me but instead sheathed Mugen and ignored me as if I wasn't there.

"Usually, when someone's talking to you, it's polite to at least acknowledge their existence with some sort of communication."

"Fine, you're annoying. Go away."

Rolling my eyes, I came up to his side, snatching his towel away.

"You could at least say hi. Is something the matter? Are you mad at me?"

His glare startled me, making me stunned at just how angry he was. Obviously, something had set him off today and it wasn't the wisest thing for me to aggravate him even more.

"The only thing that's the matter is that you're in my way. Move." He shoved his shoulder against me, catching me off guard as I stumbled for my balance.

"Kanda . . ."

Watching him gather his shirt, I slowly made my way over, being careful not to get him even more mad as I stood there, debating what in the world it was that had him so heated right now.

I doubted it was me, but then again, he's not really giving me any clues saying it's not. Could it have been someone in the Order that pissed him off earlier? But who? Most people have enough common sense to not mess with Kanda, especially when they're fully aware of the consequences. So that's out of the question.

My mind sorted and eliminated any other possible reasons and the only thing that hit me was that he _was_ mad at me.

But for what?

"**Are** you mad at me?"

After putting his shirt on, he glared at the ground, not bothering to face me as I was forced to communicate with him with his back turned.

"Why the hell would you care?"

"Why wouldn't I? Kanda, what is wrong with you? I came back wanting to talk to you before anyone else and you're mad at me for something I didn't do! Or if I did, I'm not aware of it!"

I didn't mean to blow up like I did. Honestly, I didn't. But I was trying to at least get a little gratitude from him for going out of my way to see him before leaving again with Komui and the others.

"So say whatever it is that you want to say so that I can leave!"

But I didn't expect him to blow up on me, either.

"Fine! You're a brat with no self-esteem whose only purpose in life is to live up to what standards other people put up for you! You're nothing but a burden! You think you do the best thing for others around you, when you just make it worse for you and them! Is that what you wanted to hear? Now leave me be!"

Silence enveloped the room as I stood there, staring straight into Kanda's furious eyes. His panting was all that filled the space between us as his glare never fazed. He meant every word of it. There was no regret or apology present in his eyes. He had seen me as nothing more than a burden. Not only to myself, but also to others around me.

I wanted to yell at him – kick his ass, pull his hair, call him names – God, how much I wanted to! But I just shook my head as I turned toward the doors. It wouldn't have mattered if I had done something or not. There's nothing I could've done to make that pain in my chest go away.

Before leaving, I spoke in a bare whisper, "It's nice to know the truth, Kanda. Thank you." Shutting the door behind me, I walked away from the training room, making my way over back to the Underground Waterway, determined to leave HQ as soon as possible.


	8. Relief, In Some Words

I sat at the windowsill, watching the snowflakes fall as everyone was now at the hospital in Germany where Allen and Lenalee were held for recovery. Lenalee's bed laid out across from me with her peacefully asleep in it as Komui had her entire room swamped out in paperwork. When we first arrived, I had thought the worst when hearing that she hadn't woken up since they had first brought her in. But with the reassurance of Bookman and Komui (even if he was taking it much worse, as usual), I was relieved to hear that she was fine and it was nothing more than a deep sleep that she'd wake up from any minute.

In other words, it was like she was a temporary heavy-sleeper.

After Bookman set out to do . . . "Bookman" things and Komui left to the bathroom (after much assurance that Lenalee would be fine, left in my care), I was alone in the room with Lavi as he settled onto a packed box nearby.

"Did something happen when you went to see Yu?"

My eyes glanced back at him for a second but then focused back on the scenery, "Nothing happened. He was just a little angry."

Lavi's usual happy smile was replaced with an expression of worry as he stared at my sulking form at the window, "Did he say something?"

"We just talked. I did something to piss him off and he got mad. Honestly, it's nothing."

Hearing the box scuffle under his weight, I saw him walk over to me in my peripheral. Knowing me for as long as he did, he could tell when I was upset and always caught my diversions and times of dishonesty.

"What did you do?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not sure. I just know that he was mad at me for something I did but I don't know what."

". . . Well, you now how Yu is with his emotions. He doesn't know to handle himself sometimes."

My head snapped at his direction. "So that means it's all right to take it out on me?"

"No, no! Of course not!" He waved his hands in dismissal. "I'm just saying, he's probably going through something but just doesn't know on how to deal with it. I'm sure he didn't mean it, whatever he did."

". . . He called me a brat with no life – summarizing it up to saying I'm a burden on everyone around me."

I could tell by the ongoing silence that Lavi didn't know what to say as this was something unexpected for him to hear that Kanda said that to me. Anyone else, it was understandable. They just caught him on a bad day and he hurt their feelings. It wasn't totally intentional.

But with that person being me, something had to be wrong with Kanda if he was being this way towards me.

"Yu really said that?"

I could feel my eyes starting to edge with tears as I looked over to Lavi's confused expression, trying to smile so that I could at least try to make it seem like it hadn't bothered me as much as it really did.

"Please, don't think anything of it. I'm probably just over-exaggerating everything, anyway. Whatever he's upset about, I'm sure it'll blow over when we get back." I could tell from the frown on his face that he didn't believe a single word that I said. But due to previous talks like this, he knew that it was better if the conflict was avoided as much as possible as he walked away from me.

"If you say so. But I say when you get back there, you give him what he deserves."

Seeing his happy grin put back on his face, I felt a little bit better as Komui rushed back in, filling the room with questions concerning Lenalee.

"Is she all right? Has she woken up yet? Oh, I knew I should've held it in a little longer!"

"Komui." Turning his head toward me, his face was plastered with tears as I smiled at him from the chair, "Lenalee's fine. She's still in La-La Land, recovering as we speak."

He stared at me, not really moving as it made me feel kind of awkward to be held under his stare like that for so long. Just when I thought he had finally gotten serious, he rushed over toward me, snuggling me closer to him as he praised on how much of a big sister I was being to Lenalee, and such. Not really paying attention to his words, I thought back to Kanda's words before my departure:

"_You're a brat with no self-esteem whose only purpose in life is to live up to what standards other people put up for you! You're nothing but a burden!_ _You think you do the best thing for others around you, when you just make it worse for you and them! Is that what you wanted to hear? Now leave me be!"_

Those words still hit hard at my chest. But with the current situation, I wasn't being a burden to Komui as he trusted me with Lenalee, knowing that I care for her deeply. I wasn't a burden to Lavi since he had a friend here to talk to and evade any chance of boredom that managed to find its way toward him. I wasn't a burden to Bookman as he appreciated me taking Lavi off of his hands often, leaving him some solitary time to relax (even if it was only for a minute or so).

And right now, Allen and Lenalee needed me here as the Noahs have made themselves known, claiming the start of the war between the Millennium Earl and the Black Order. If anything, my conflict and troubles were to be put aside for later as I was needed now as an exorcist and a friend. Not a sad sack whose problems would weigh down the entire group.

Prying off Komui, I kept on my smile (despite how irritated I was) and calmed him down.

"As much as I would love to hear about how unfortunate it is that Lenalee and I aren't related, we need to discuss the events to come with the Noahs' appearance after both Lenalee and Allen wake up."

Komui got serious as Bookman walked in, stating that it'd be best if we checked on Allen's wounds. Standing up, Komui asked that I stay in the room while him, Bookman and Lavi filed out of the room behind him. Casting a last look at Lavi, I saw him wink at me in confidence as he followed them out of the room.

Looking back at Lenalee's sleeping form reminded me as to why I became an Exorcist in the first place: to protect those around me and to keep the world peaceful from the Akuma. My lips etched up into a smile as I realized just how much I cared for my friends at the Order:

Lenalee

Komui

Reever

Natalie

Johnny

Allen

Bookman

Lavi

. . .

My eyes softened at the thought of the last person: Kanda. Whatever it was that was bugging him, it'd have to wait until I saw him again to clear the air between the two of us. But I know that it was neither his fault nor mine for the outcome of the conflict. It would just have to wait until our next encounter to get to the source of his troubles.

"Komui?! Eh? Where am I?!"

And Allen just woke up. My smile was back on my face as I thought of the possible wake up call he received with Komui in the room. More than likely, he woke up just before Komui fixed his arm up. My throat started vibrating with the oncoming laughter, threatening to burst out. Resistance was futile as little fits of giggles made themselves known, my body bursting with tingles of glee and hysteria at just how much I had begun to realize a thought much too late.

My family was the Order and I loved them all with their messed up ways.

After one or two hours, I switched with Komui as I walked across the hall into Allen's room, seeing Bookman roll out his acupuncture needles to examine him with. Seeing me walk through the doorway, his face brightened as he was glad to see someone he knew who was well and sane. In other words, he was glad that it wasn't Komui walking through the doorway.

"Thana! You came along with them?"

Nodding my head, I leaned against the wall next to Lavi, "I was worried over you and Lenalee, so Komui let me tag along. Although, something tells me I would've been coming, regardless." I muttered the last part to myself as I noticed Allen looking back and forth between me and Lavi with Timcampy lying across his shoulders.

"Um . . . Just out of curiosity --."

"No, we're not related. We just both happen to have red hair – even though mine's a much brighter red." Lavi plopped his arm on top of my head, using it as an arm rest while grinning up at Allen, "But she wishes she had such an awesome older brother like me."

I stepped away, watching him fall due to lack of support and land face-first onto the floor, "And he wishes that he had such a smarter little sister like me." Shrugging my shoulders, I walked up to Bookman's side, seeing him a little apprehensive as he was getting out an acupuncture needle, "Something wrong Bookman?"

I followed his gaze onto Allen's face and realized that his left eye looked horrible, "Allen! What happened to your eye?!"

He, along with Lavi and Bookman, almost fell to the floor in disbelief that I hadn't noticed his injury when I first walked in. "It's nothing, really."

"Allen, your eye is crushed. Don't tell me it's nothing."

He tried to smile, as if saying that it really wasn't anything to get upset over. But I couldn't help it since I had started seeing Allen as a little brother to me.

"Was it from the Noah?" Nodding in conformation, I had realized at this point that the Noahs are definitely a threat if they realized that Allen's left eye was his key for spotting Akuma. Looking back at Bookman, I could see him still looking at Allen's eye in thought, "Bookman?"

"This is most unusual. His eye is regenerating itself." Looking back at Allen, it was definitely an odd thing to hear. The Innocence was repairing his eye, which was cursed by an Akuma. Should that even be possible?

"You can't see with it yet, but that will soon pass. At the rate you're healing, you'll be back to normal in a few days. My needles won't be necessary." Bookman said while rolling up his needles back into its pack. "I heard that it's a curse. Is that true?"

Allen's hand covered his eye while looking down, probably remembering the event when it happened. "I got this scar when I turned my father into an Akuma."

"Allen Walker . . . ," Allen looked up at Bookman while I sat down at the end of his bed, "You are the Child of Prophecy, the Destroyer of Time." Offering his hand, he continued, "We are called the Bookmen. For reasons I can't disclose we have become Exorcists. That pup over there is Lavi. I have no name."

After Allen shook his hand, he bowed slightly, "You may call me Bookman."

Allen smiled at him, acknowledging his introduction while I smiled at the end of his bed. I watched Bookman leave the room with Lavi as I sat on Allen's bed, seeing him look down at his covers with regret. I asked, concerned, "Something wrong, Allen?"

He hesitated before answering, "When I was fighting with Road (I assumed that was the Noah's name), she felt . . . human. It's not like they're Akuma. They're living, breathing warm-blooded humans."

I didn't say anything, not too sure on what to say since it looked like this shook him up from the inside. "Allen?"

"I'm not a murderer Thana! I can't kill a human!" His fists pounded on the bed, shaking under both of our weights, "I can't kill her! She's a human! I just can't do that!" His voice was turning hysterical as his face was getting more choked with emotion.

"Allen, you're an Exorcist. It's your job as one to beat any threat against the Black Order. If that requires killing off the Noah, then we have to do it."

"But they're human, Thana! I didn't become an Exorcist to kill humans!" I almost fell off of the bed at the sudden volume he gained as he shot his head up at me, "I made a promise to myself to protect all humans from the Akuma! And the Noahs are human!"

I could only imagine the conflict he was going through within himself as Allen was starting to struggle with his intentions due to these double-standards. Laying my hand on top of his, I felt him shaking with uncertainty, "So you're just gonna let the others around you die off due to this little problem, Allen?"

He looked at me with shock, "What? Of course not!"

"Then be the Exorcist that you came here to be. They may be human, but they're with the Millennium Earl. Besides, if we find a way to save them without killing them, then we'll just do that instead. But if worse comes to worst . . ." I didn't finish, knowing the Allen caught my drift. Of course I wasn't promising anything, but I wanted to at least keep his spirits up on thinking that he would only have to kill them as a last result. But for all we knew, the Noahs could be a new breed of Akuma that not even Allen's eye can detect.

I watched Allen sit up, still a little conflicted but in better shape than before as he looked up at me with a smile, "Thanks Thana."

I shook my head while looking away at the wall, "I'm not making any promises. Just know that we might have to kill them as our first priority."

I could tell that he didn't want to come face to face with this fact, but accepted it as he stood up off the bed. He stretched his arms, asking, "Anyway, how was your mission in Russia?"

"Oh, it was all right. We originally went to retrieve an Innocence that was already gathered. But on the way there, my partner and I concluded that due to the mysterious increase of Akuma in such a short amount of time was due another Innocence that wasn't found by the Finders in the area."

Allen looked at me surprised, but not entirely amazed since he knew of my skills with logic.

"So you managed to collect an extra Innocence while there?"

I nodded in conformation, "Yeah. But because of an ambush from several Akuma there – apparently, they were waiting for someone to expose the Innocence to them since they couldn't pinpoint it either – Abbott and I were hospitalized for at least 2 months. Well, more-so on my part."

"What! For 2 months?"

I waved off his hysteria. "It wasn't that bad. The shock in my system just forced my body to rest in bed for a while. Though the only thing that sucks about not having to do anything in bed is the body odor. Sleeping in your own stink sucks really badly."

"You didn't shower or anything?" Allen asked – a bit disgusted to know that I had to sit in my own funk for who knows how long.

"I couldn't. As soon as I got back to the Branch, Bak rushed me and Abbott down to the hospital as fast as he could. The cleanest I ever got there during that time was from them rinsing off my wounds when we got there."

"Don't they ever sponge bath the patients that can't move on their own?"

"Yeah, but due to my lack of participation, the staff didn't want to bother. And it wasn't until about 2 weeks later that I was in the hospital that Abbott had decided to be brave and give me one himself."

"I meant to ask earlier, but was Abbott Daeven your partner?"

I lied back across the bed, folding my arms behind my head, "Yeah, he was. He was actually very gentleman-like. From how he usually acts towards me, I thought he was originally going to try to drown me in the tub." From the corner of my eye, I could see Allen blushing at the thought of me getting a sponge bath as he turned away from me. Laughing a little, I continued, "But he was actually very patient with everything I had asked him to do for me – though I tried not to have him do too many things since it wasn't that comfortable for me to have other people do things for me."

"Abbott sounds like a nice guy. Not at all what other people in the Order say about him."

Turning my head toward Allen, I asked him what he meant.

"Well, – assuming that it's the same Abbott as your partner – I've heard that there was a guy named Abbott who was known as a sort of player around the Order. I don't like to believe rumors but that's what I heard. And you were partners with him."

"Yeah, it's all true. But the only thing is that he's actually more of a flirt than a playboy." Then a sudden spark went off in my head. If there were rumors about Abbott flying away while I was out on my mission with him, then did that mean that Kanda was actually pissed at the fact that I was alone on my mission with a supposed player?

"Allen, how was Kanda while I was away?"

Allen gave me a questioning look before responding, "He looked a little irritated about something, but I wasn't sure what. Then his irritation got worse as it took longer for you to get back from your mission. Before I left with Lenalee, I heard that he had kept himself in the Training Room all day."

So Kanda was mad at me – more specifically, that I was alone with a rumored player. So it was out of concern that he was angry at me and yelled at me earlier today. But still, it was uncalled for and I'll just have to talk to him when I get back.

"You think you know what the reason was?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure now. But enough of that," Sitting up, I pulled Allen with me as I opened the door, "You should be going to talk to Komui. You wanted to ask him something, right?"

Nodding his head, though not remembering sharing that information, he went ahead of me as I closed the door behind us as I turned to walk down the hall.

"Thana?"

"Go on ahead. I'm just gonna be outside for a minute."

After turning down a few more corners and stairs, I came across the exit and walked out into the chilling temperature of the snow outside. Stepping out of the hospital gates, I sat down on the bench as I watched the people walk by on the streets.

Emotions were at odds inside of me as I thought about everything while watching the snowflakes fall from the cloudy sky above. Well, thinking about Kanda started making more and more sense as I thought over his infuriation towards my mission with Abbott. He was just concerned for me being played like a rag-doll by a cold-hearted guy. I'm glad to know that his assumptions were wrong since Abbott is not at all what the rumors claimed him to be – exaggerated, I bet, but not totally true. Now that I think about it, I do remember hearing a few things about him . . .

I shook my head away from the distraction and focused on the thought of the Noahs. Thinking back on my mission in Russia, the rise of Akuma in a location like New Sun: nothing more than a little desolated town off to the side from the main cities. So there'd be no reason for such an increase of Akuma in that reason if it's even rare in itself that Russia has a handful of Akuma to deal with. So did the Millennium Earl set this all up? And how do the Noahs fit into all of this?

"They're obviously working for the Earl if one of them managed to shut off Allen from his advantage with discovering Akuma." Which meant that they definitely weren't allies.

Hearing the gates open, I turned my head to see Lavi walking out with Allen behind him.

"Thana! I was wondering where you went off to."

"Just a little time doing nothing. I'm guessing Bookman kicked you out?"

His smile stated yes as I watched Allen stand off to the side, looking uncomfortable. He must've heard me about his lack of detection of Akuma, so he must've felt tensed with being outside without his eye to tell him where a potential Akuma might be.

"Hey Lavi," I decided to change the feel of the atmosphere, hoping to make things less stressful for Allen, "Why don't we make some snowmen? It's been a while since we last did."

"Yeah! Let's do it!" I laughed at Lavi's enthusiasm as he immediately started piling up snow. Seeing Allen staring off, I walked over and elbowed him in the side, "Come on, Allen. It's not that bad. Sure, snowmen can look really creepy if you stare at them the wrong way – but they're pretty fun to make."

He shook his head, not perking up like I was wanted him to, "I'm fine Thana. I'm just a little tired still, I guess. From the mission, I mean." I could tell from the look on his face that he was still conflicting with his intentions of being an Exorcist, but I could only smile and try to make everything less edgy as I gathered a handful of snow and put it in his hand. Confused, he looked up at me.

"Just relax for now and enjoy the snow. It makes everything cold as hell, but it has its enjoyable moments, like this. So ignore the stress and just have fun for now."

I walked over to Lavi as I helped him make his pile bigger. "Need some help?"

"No. I was doing fine by myself, but it's appreciated." Patting down the snow to make a solid base, I started working on the next pile as I got more snow. A gloved hand came up next to me with more snow as it added it to the pile. I couldn't stop myself from smiling, knowing that Allen was helping me.

"Feeling better?"

"I just took in what you said and decided to just let go for the moment. Plus, I don't think you're willing to let me go on through the day as I am now."

"And you're right. I'm not. But I promise that we'll have time to talk later, okay?"

He nodded his head agreeing with me as he helped me with the pile. A little while later – and a few random comments between Lavi and I – we were starting work on our third snowman until Komui called me up from the window.

"Thana! I don't mean to interrupt your re-acquaintance with your friends but I need you up here for a minute."

"All right!" I watched Komui go back inside the room before turning to see Allen look a bit sullen to see me go and leave him with Lavi. Walking over to him, I patted his head and smiled at him, "Don't worry. We'll have a lot more time to catch up after this. Okay?"

He only looked at me – silently pleading me not to go and to stay – but understood. He smiled back at me as he looked back to the pile of unfinished snowmen, "It's all right. I'll be fine."

I hesitated before leaving, not entirely sure that Allen was in the best state of mind to be left alone right now. But he needed a distraction from any troubling thoughts, so I trusted Lavi to come through with that. I just hoped that he wouldn't be too much of an annoyance for Allen to take. Walking back inside, I got back up to Lenalee's room to see Komui and Bookman sitting on some boxes next to Lenalee's bed.

"Thana, would you mind recording what Bookman has to say regarding the Noah Clan?"

I looked to my side, seeing a pile of stacked blank paper with an ink quill sitting next to them. I took them into my arms, walking around the room to sit next to Komui on an empty box.

"I don't mind, but why am I the one recording this?"

Bookman answered my question, "We think it best since your handwriting is the clearest and that you're the fastest writer in the room."

"So why not send Lavi back up here? He'd probably be able to write everything in perfect detail."

"Lavi already knows what he needs to know regarding the Clan of Noah. It's his big mouth that got him kicked out to begin with."

So that's why he and Allen were both kicked out earlier. I didn't stop my smirk from showing as I got myself comfortable on the box, "So that's what it was . . . You can begin anytime you're ready."

*A few hours later*

My fingers were starting to cramp with all of the writing I had done. There was a lot – I mean a LOT – of history behind the Noah Clan. Dating back to the time of Noah's Ark (though I found it surprising that it didn't seem obvious to me when I first started), I was unprepared for just how much I'd have to write. Handing the papers to Komui, I stretched out my back, "God that was a lot. I thought my hand was going to fall off."

"That's a big help, Bookman. Sorry to make you talk so much. And I'm sorry Thana that you had to strain yourself to record everything."

"Quite all right. It comes with the job."

I waved off Komui's apology as I stood up. "It's fine. Just glad to help."

Looking back at Komui, I saw a certain emotion in his eyes. He looked guilty about something as he stared down at the papers.

"I sympathize with you Chief." My eyes watched Bookman as he was studying Komui's expression just as I was. "The Akuma are trouble enough without the Clan showing up. You must be exhausted."

Komui must've noticed that he was exposing his stress as he dismissed the thought. "I'm all right. But the Exorcists have a hard job ahead of them. Including you Thana."

I watched as Komui tried to keep his emotions under control as he hid his face behind the papers. "I have to send Exorcists like you into the Earl's darkest depths."

Pulling the papers away from his face, I held them in my hands as he looked up at me confused. "Don't worry about it, Komui. It's our job to handle things like this. We do it to protect you and everyone else at the Order."

"It's hard on everyone. But that's the nature of war." I nodded my head in agreement to Bookman's statement. Then my torso squeezed tightly as my heart pounded in my ears. There was an Akuma nearby. Looking around the room, my heartbeat grew louder as I focused the detection towards the door. And in my peripheral, I could see that Bookman had sensed it, too.

Watching him jump (although, it looked a lot like bouncing) over the boxes, I stood in front of Komui as he tried glancing over my shoulder, "Is something the matter?"

"You need to hide Komui. Now."

I handed him back the papers, not taking my eyes off of the door. He glanced at me, not sure what was going on, "What?"

Bookman spoke from the doorway, "Hide, Chief. There's no need to expose yourself to the darkness." Jumping over the boxes, I stood behind Bookman as he slowly opened the door, exposing ourselves to the Akuma standing outside of our door with both of the Finders that were guarding our room, dead in piles of dust on the floor. Splotches of blood on the wall were their heads had been. I stared at the giant Akuma before us, aiming its guns right at us.

"Think this one might take a while?"

Bookman didn't respond but did nod his head, "But it shouldn't be anything too hard for you to handle, Miss Thana."

My smile showed up at the compliment. "I would like to think not."

Then it fired right at us.


	9. New Orders, New Times

**_I'd like to apologize to all my readers/reviewers out there (especially Lathya for being so faithful to the series) for my lateness with this new chapter. Truth is, I just got done with high school, everything happened in the same weekend (no bullsh*t), and I'm lacking with new material for future chapters. So be prepared for some writer blocks and more late updating in the future. but I'll try my best to keep this story going! Thank you!_**

*After the battle*

I stood by Komui, watching as Bookman walked in front of the beaten Akuma, which was sprawled out all across the other side of the room.

"Confess. Why have you come here?"

It started laughing, almost as if it had won the fight and intended for this to happen. In which case, heightened up my guard more just in case as I walked up to Bookman's side.

"**I have a message from the Millennium Earl: 'The time has come. The 7,000-year prologue is over and the drama is about to begin. Be ready when the curtain rises. You are the actors, Exorcists!' "**

Just as quickly as it was over, a part of the Akuma detached itself as it shot through the air, aiming towards Komui, **"I won't die alone!"**

Before either Bookman or I could react quickly enough to the situation, there was an explosion in the air before we could see what had happened. I started panicking with guilt. That mere second that I had loosened my guard could've possibly killed Komui and Lenalee! But before I completely lost my sense of logic, I watched the smoke fade away, seeing Lenalee's leg in the air as she was the one to destroy the Akuma before it had done any damage to Komui. Relief rushed through me – and I'm sure in Bookman as well – as Komui stared in disbelief at Lenalee's awake form.

"Le-Lenalee . . ."

She smiled at him over her shoulder as both me and Bookman exhaled a sigh of relief. "You're awake."

Just before I could respond to the pleasant feel of the room, the wall tore down with Lavi and Allen attached to Lavi's hammer, sending them straight into Bookman and across the room. Me, Komui, and Lenalee stood by in the background as we watched the chaos of the sudden appearance settle down.

Komui decided to be the one to speak up, voicing out his apprehension, "I see you came here by hammer, Lavi."

Popping out of the debris as if nothing had happened, Lavi had his usual grin on his face while scratching the back of his head, "Heh. Sorry about that. The thing is convenient, but I haven't quite got the hang of stopping yet. Wasn't that exciting, Allen?"

Expecting to see Allen next to him – though absent – Lavi looked around for him, "Um . . . Allen?"

Rising out of the debris from behind Lavi came out Bookman with Allen on his head, unconscious with a huge knot on his head – which looked like it was bleeding.

"YOU VANDALS!"

The direct tone of his voice intimidated everyone – even if it was directed only at Lavi and Allen – as Bookman looked very angry at the damage that they had caused with Lavi's hammer.

"Once again, Lavi's gotten himself into another mess of trouble."

Komui and Lenalee nodded to my statement, watching as both Allen – who was thrown to the floor by Bookman – and Lavi were receiving a verbal punishment that sounded very harsh. Rolling my eyes at the scene, I smiled to myself. Not too sure on the reason why, but I just found the whole thing to be comforting, in an odd way. Or maybe it was the comedy of the situation that lightened up the mood of the room . . . Yeah, I'll go with that.

*On the carriage*

I sat between Bookman and Komui as Lavi, Allen and Lenalee sat on the other side of us. Lavi and Allen were forced to sit seiza-style on the carriage as punishment for causing the unneeded damage to the hospital.

Clearing his throat, Komui decided to speak, "Now, then. Let's talk about the mission. Ok, you two?"

Allen and Lavi were shaking in agony as they were forced to sit on their legs for the entire ride. Of course the damage was paid for, but it was through Komui. And didn't Komui didn't like spending unnecessary amounts of money.

"You should've just walked back instead of taking the hammer." I said, feeling sorry for their situation. I felt my heartstrings tug out for Allen since it wasn't even his fault. Lavi just probably dragged him with him against his will.

"Like I was supposed to know it'd crash like that! I've had better test drives with the brakes of it without crashing into anything!" Lavi snapped at me. Obviously, his position was getting to him as I saw him and Allen shaking even more, eager to sit regularly.

"Still probably broke something . . ." I muttered under my breath. Before Lavi could respond back, Komui interrupted, "Lavi. Thana. Please. I have something very important to discuss with you all."

We obeyed Komui's request as we sat silently waiting for him to continue. I saw him look down at his hands in hesitation before continuing to speak, "A few days ago . . . a General was murdered."

We all looked at Komui in shock at the news. For a General to be murdered – let alone defeated – they must've gone up against a seriously strong opponent. The only question is: is it Akuma or not?

"The one assassinated was General Kevin Yeager. Even though he was the eldest of the five Generals, he was always the type to fight on the front lines."

General Kevin Yeager? His name sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure if I had ever met him face-to-face. Lenalee held her hand at her lips, still in shock, asking, "What happened to him . . ?"

Seeing from the look on Komui's face, he looked like he was just as upset as he answered, "He was found in Belgium, nailed backwards to a cross. The words 'God Hunt' were carved onto his back."

I heard Allen mutter the words to himself before Lavi spoke up, "Komui, does that mean the Innocence-?"

"Looks like it. The General was involved with a search for people who are compatible with Innocence. He carried a variety of Innocence with him. General Yeager had eight of them in his possession."

That would explain the reason behind the attack. With that many Innocence with him all at once, it would've been a matter of time before an Akuma would've attacked him for them anyway. But was it seriously that strong? Or maybe . . . a Noah was involved in it as well? My eyes wandered off to Allen's alarmed expression as my thoughts went through possibilities of the General's murderer. And my number one guess was either the Noah that Allen fought against or a different one.

"Including the one powering the General's own Anti-Akuma weapon, nine were stolen in total." Komui said.

"Nine?" I said out loud without realizing. They even managed to get a hold of the Innocence in his Anti-Akuma weapon? How was that even possible?

"He was crucified and suffered from multiple fatal wounds. On the verge of dying . . . he kept singing until he took his last breath: _The Millennium Count . . . is searching . . . Searching for the precious Heart . . . It wasn't me . . . Next who'll it be_."

"'The Millennium Count?'" Lavi asked, confused about the name.

"Looks like it's the Earl's nickname. The Noah that Allen and Lenalee encountered called him that too." Komui answered. I laid back further into the seat, covering my eyes with my hand. This was too much to deal with in one day.

"Are you alright Thana?"

I looked to the side, seeing Komui surveying me while still looking very serious but the concern was evident in his eyes. Nodding my head, I covered my eyes again. "I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in for me, I guess."

"Um . . ." Both me and Komui looked across at Allen, who hesitated before continuing, "What's the 'precious heart'. . ?"

Komui closed his eyes at the atmosphere returned to its previous stiff feeling. "It's one of 109 Innocence that we are searching for. The core of all the Innocence, it's called 'The Heart.' It is the root of all the power of the Innocence, and can return all Innocence into nothingness. If we have it in our possession, it will be the first that we can gain the power to stop the end. **That** is the Earl's target."

Allen seemed to understand as his earlier suspicions ceased to be true – I guess he thought it was a real human heart. Wanting to satisfy his curiosity more, Allen asked, "Where is that Innocence?"

"Dunno."

"Huh?" Allen didn't think he'd know, but thought that he'd at least have some sort of clue as to where it was . . . Or maybe I'm just projecting my thoughts into his head.

Komui pushed up his glasses as he started on his rant. "Actually, it's very annoying. The cube had nothing noted in it about what kind of Innocence it is, nothing about signs or distinctions, nothing~! You know, we've already tried to get Hebravska to look at the Innocence in our possession, and considered it from many angles . . ."

I took my attention away from the old soul of Komui's ongoing rambling about the annoyances of being Supervisor. Honestly, I sometimes wonder about how Komui can handle doing what he does. With everything that goes on in the Black Order, he's basically the spinal cord that keeps everything in order and sane. Looking over at Lenalee – who was giving Allen an empathetic look, feeling sorry that he had to endure one of her brother's ramblings – I remembered his main reason for being here and smiled unbeknownst to me.

Bookman must've caught my staring as he gently nudged me at my side. I looked down at him curiously. "Hm?"

"Just concerned, Miss Thana. You looked like you weren't yourself just now."

I nudged my eyebrows together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Bookman looked back in front of him but continued speaking to me, "Well, I remember a time that we had visited the Order and you were still in training with General Klaud Nine. It was while you had just returned after assisting Exorcist Sol Galen."

A strange tingling entered my spine as my mind remembered the distant memory. I was proving to Klaud that I was worthy of becoming an official Exorcist and no longer needed to train under her. So I had joined one of her previous students on a mission to retrieve an Innocence held in Boston. But what did that have to do with anything?

"I remember."

Bookman nodded. "That was the first mission you had with the Order. And you weren't aware of it at the time, but Komui had sent me there to make sure that I recorded everything for him and the General to re-evaluate later."

My eyes widened at the unexpected news. "You were spying on me?"

"I'm a Bookman. It's my job to record history. I'm best at it when no one's aware of it."

I smiled at his attempt of a joke but it faded soon after I thought about the details of that mission. It was the first time I had met the Earl face to face.

"If you'd like, we can continue this later at a more convenient time."

I agreed with a nod as I listened back to what Komui was saying. "The General was only the first victim. The Earl probably thinks that of all of the Innocence compatible people there are, there is a good chance that 'the heart' resides in people with the most power. The appearance of the Akuma, and now the Noah's family and the heightened military strength, are all probably because of that. The Exorcist Generals have become their targets. That is probably the meaning of the message as well. It is very likely that the same message was sent to other Exorcists too."

Lavi spoke in, seeing where Komui was going. "At any rate, the apostle for that Innocence would almost certainly have as much strength as a General."

"Still, a simultaneous assault by Noah's family and the Akuma would be too much, even for a General. Exorcists from all over are being recalled and divided into 4 groups. The mission this time is to guard the Generals."

I noticed Allen's movements ceased at Komui's next words.

"You lot will guard General Cross."

My assumptions at Allen's reaction were sound and accurate. He paled a little at the face and it almost seemed like he stopped breathing. His reaction – even if it was to be expected – made me wonder if Cross was really that bad of a guy. Allen told me things he would have to do to pay off Cross' debts that he'd push off on him when he was training under him. Honestly, it just sounded like he had a gambling problem and commitment issues. But if it was enough to scar Allen like this just from the thought of him, he had to be really something . . .

"Orders for the Generals don't come from me – the Commander-in-Chief gives out their orders. They're assigned multiple orders at once, and then they carry them out according to their own judgment. Therefore, we don't have information on their whereabouts at any given time. Then again, **three** of the four remaining Generals regularly contact Headquarters once a month, so we know approximately where they are . . ." Komui pointed one finger in the air as Lavi and Allen sat there, unwilling to be the ones to have to endure Komui's threatening tone.

"The problem is **one**!"

Judging from Allen's expression, I could guess which one he was talking about.

"General **Cross Marian**!"

I understood the importance of information that Komui just shared with us but with the shiny glint of his glasses with the over-dramatic pose – even Cross' name on his finger – that was overdoing it a bit.

Pushing his glasses back up, Komui went back into his serious mode. "According to his information, there has been no word from General Cross in almost four years. We can conclude that (1) 'He's dead.' Or (2) 'He's ignoring orders and just playing around.' "

From what Allen says about him and judging from Komui's expression, I'd assume that it's number 2. Allen tried to say something but then Komui cut him off with his pinky pointed towards with Allen's name on it.

"Then you appeared, Allen!"

Grabbing Allen's shoulders, Komui got closer as his face almost began to morph into a demon as he spoke, "As Cross' disciple, you've been traveling together with him for three years . . . Always!"

Allen seemed unwilling to speak as he responded, "It's . . . no good? I have no idea where the Master is."

Lavi seemed to get into the conversation, asking, "Komui, how do we go about locating a missing person?"

"The other teams will depend on the disciples of the various Generals. But – in our case – we'll get Tim to guide us."

Lavi, Allen and I looked at Timcampy in surprise – who was at the time chewing on the curtains. "Timcampy?"

"Also a renowned scientist, Cross was the maker of this little golem. And as such, he should be able to tell us where Cross is."

I was honestly surprised that Komui was being as calm as he was about finding Cross. That is, until he spoke again.

"After that, since Allen is familiar with his movement patterns, it'll be like drowning a trapped rat!" Again with the over-dramatics, Komui practically had "insane" tattooed on his forehead – actually, I think it was really on his forehead.

"Brother . . . That's a bit . . ."

"Unnecessary?" I finished off Lenalee's thought. She sent Allen and Lavi an apologetic look on behalf of her brother. Shaking my head, I grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him down to eye level with me.

"Cut it out before you regret it. You're giving me a headache." Knowing that my threats were nothing to take lightly, Komui calmed down as sat in his seat like a civilized person. On the outside, at least.

Pressing a finger to my temple, I was starting to get a little bit of a headache. But I doubt it was from Komui. It's not rare that headaches happen to me but it's not usually a good thing either. Whatever was going to happen, I just hoped that it would wait and let me get some sleep on the train.

*At the Train Station*

I'm not usually the one to get annoyed with Lavi's pranks or mischief. Actually, I'm usually off to the side laughing at it but still not involved with it. But right now, a headache was starting to brew in my head and I had caught a little motion sickness while in the carriage. So when we finally stopped, I had almost fainted getting out.

Right now, we were at the Belgium Train Station, waiting for our train to get here. A few hours had passed since we got here and Allen had fallen asleep on my side. I didn't mind too much since he needed the rest. But it was Lavi that was making things worse for my headache.

He had gotten the idea to draw on Allen's face while he was sleeping and had already accomplished drawing an eye on his eye patch, another eye over his eyelid, some kanji over his forehead, a swirl on his cheek, and finishing a moustache over his lip.

I'm not too sure but I think Allen was aware of something being done to his face since every time Lavi would draw on him, he'd flinch in his sleep and stiffen up every time the brush got near his face. Just when the train pulled up, Bookman managed to catch Lavi in the act and punch the back of his head.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Not expecting that, Lavi responded in behalf of his actions, "He's dreaming about General Cross again!"

I hadn't paid it much attention since I wasn't too awake myself, but now that Lavi brought it up, I could hear Allen mutter something about Cross not being human . . . Odd.

"Hey! Everyone, hurry and get on! If we miss this one, there won't be another train until tomorrow!" Lenalee yelled from the open train doors.

Standing up, I managed to catch Allen before he fell and woke him up. From the look on his face, it didn't look like he had enjoyed his nap much. Guiding him half asleep to the train, I pointed him to the bathroom before sitting in a cabin where Lenalee, Lavi and Bookman were already seated. Sitting down next to Lavi, I leaned back against the seat as my exhaustion grew more by the second. And none of this was helping the headache growing like fungus in my head.

"Thana, you alright?"

I didn't look at Lavi but closed my eyes as I spoke, "It's just a headache. It'll go away as soon as I get some rest. Nothing serious."

Lenalee stood up and walked out of her seat.

"Lenalee? Where are you going?" Bookman asked.

"I'm just going to check up on Allen when he gets out of the bathroom. I'll be back."

Bookman let her go before pulling out a world map.

"We're just gonna do this now while Allen and Lenalee aren't here?"

"Don't be stupid Lavi. It's just out here until they both get back." Bookman retaliated as he flicked Lavi's forehead.

"Ow! Thana! Make Bookman stop bullying me!" Lavi whined while pulling at the jacket.

Swatting his hand away, I leaned away from him while resting my elbow on the armrest.

"Please, Lavi. Not right now."

"It's that bad?" Lavi asked, concern masking over his earlier childish attitude.

"A little. It shouldn't be getting any worse than this."

Lavi didn't respond as he leaned back, tracing over the outline of his eye-patch while smirking to himself. "I wonder if Allen will be able to get all of that off of his face."

Hearing Lavi's snickering, I hit him in the side with my elbow. "Must you always pick on Allen?"

"If he gets irritated by it, then yes."

I shook my head at Lavi's mischievous ways before turning towards the window. I didn't realize how tired I was getting until my eyelids starting drooping. My entire body felt so relaxed, anticipating the final point of leisure . . . That is, until Lavi shoved me awake and Allen and Lenalee were back in the cabin.

"Sorry Thana. But we can't have you missing out on anything."

I waved Bookman off, gesturing for him to continue.

"Let's start by putting our information together."

Next to me, I could hear Lavi taunting Allen even more, resulting in him getting even more upset.

"Stop talking, you two." Following Bookman's orders, Lavi and Allen ceased their talking as Bookman continued speaking, "Currently, we're proceeding towards East Germany. How's Timcampy doing?"

Now noticing the mentioned golem above the map, Timcampy pointed to the right towards the east. Lenalee stated the fact as I stared at Timcampy, wondering just where in the east Cross was.

"If the General is far away, he can't receive more than a vague sense of his direction. That means the master is still pretty far away." Allen said as Lenalee grabbed the map, examining it.

"Where in the world could he be . . ? General Cross doesn't claim expenses from the church, so we don't have any receipts from him."

Confused, Lavi wanted to know how Cross was getting around. "Eh? Then how does he pay for everything? Out of his own money? (Is he rich or something?)"

Holding up a sign with an X on it, Allen denied Lavi's inquisition, "Master **borrows money**. The Master lives off his lovers and acquaintances in different places. When we were really broke, I made some money by gambling. I didn't even know about claiming receipts until I joined the Church."

Everyone – excluding me, seeing that I already knew all of this – looked at Allen incredulously, as if to say 'you went that far?' And poor Allen . . . Just stuck with the unneeded attention as he felt like it was just another part of his life.

I also noticed the brief glance that both Allen and Lenalee shared before she turned away – which disappointed Allen quite a bit. Poor Allen. Today just wasn't his day.

Deciding to change the subject, I got Allen's attention. "By the way Allen, you still can't open that left eye?"

Allen turned to answer but Bookman spoke ahead of him, "Get that eye healed quickly so you can stand watch for Akuma. Judging by the messages from the other groups, we can assume that Akuma will try to attack and stop us."

I eased my head over onto the window, glad the cool glass was helping to ease my head.

"To get to the General, we'll be traveling on trains for quite a while. We need that left eye so we can make swift judgments to keep civilians from getting mixed up with Akuma."

We all nodded in agreement as Allen confirmed his approval, "Understood."

I finally closed my eyes, thankful that the discussion was over. Now I could get the rest I needed as I leaned against the window, letting the coolness from the window soothe my headache. Not too soon after, my eyelids dropped as I drifted into slumber.

*A Few Hours Later*

I was nudged awake as I felt the train was no longer moving beneath me. We must've arrived at a stop already. Looking out the window, I saw that there weren't many people and saw that Allen and Lenalee were already outside.

"Thana, do you want anything? They have a food stand outside."

I looked over to see that Lavi was sitting next to me along with Bookman sitting across from us. Before I asked what happened to Lenalee and Allen, I saw them both outside while Lenalee was getting some food from a stand nearby.

"I take it that Allen's making things up with Lenalee."

Lavi nodded his head as he looked outside the window. "I thought I was the only one who felt the tension between them. I should've known your intuition would've let you know about it."

I faced the front again as I leaned over onto Lavi's shoulder since my headache was a little better than before. It still hurt like hell but at least now it wasn't a pulsing migraine that reverberated with every sound around me.

"I would go out there and mediate – you know, just in case – but my head's been too much for me to deal with since we got on the train."

"You think there's Akuma nearby?"

I shook my head against his shoulder. "Doubt it. That would be more of a gut feeling than anything. But just stay on your toes; it's still likely that Akuma can still appear anywhere."

Hearing the train whistle signal its departure, I looked at the aisle to see Lenalee walking back to our seats with a bag of food and dried tear stains on her face. I didn't say anything as she set the bag down and sat in her seat, looking troubled by something. Pretty soon after that, the train started moving from the station and back on its tracks (train pun, get it?).

"Hey. Where's Allen?"

Hearing Lavi's question made me look around the seats and – sure enough – Allen wasn't there on the other side of Lavi.

"Wasn't he just with you Lenalee?" I asked as I looked up at her. She looked at us in surprise as she looked across at the empty seat. "He was . . . Maybe he's in the bathroom?"

Her unsure tone forced me out of my seat and hurried to the back to see if he was in there instead of lost in the previous town. Surely enough, the bathroom was empty and Allen wasn't on the train. I heaved a heavy sigh as I walked back to our seat, letting my expression speak for itself.

"Well, this is troubling," spoke Bookman as he looked out the window, seeing just how far we had gotten from the town. If the train could turn back around, we would've been able to get Allen back in no time but that was pretty much impossible.

"We have to find a way to get Allen." Lenalee's concern showed in her voice while she glanced towards the window. Looking around, the only option was to have somebody get off while we were still close to the town to get him and bring him back. Bookman couldn't do it. He doesn't have the speed to catch back up to the train with Allen in tow. Lenalee would be fast enough to do it but her strength isn't enough to carry Allen back with her in this case. And so the only option was . . .

Not just mine but also Lenalee's and Bookman's eyes followed over towards Lavi, who looked wary of our stares. Glad I wasn't the only one who thought of the idea.

"W-Why's everyone staring at me?"

Poor Lavi.


	10. Author's Note

So sorry for the lack of updates lately!

I'm just getting ready for college, I'm still attempting at getting my license, and I need to find a car before August rolls around.

Yeah, I've been busy . . .

So for this story, I'm kind of taking my time since the new chapters for D. Gray-man are kind of interfering with certain ideas I already had in mind for the story so I'm just sorting those out in my head before I put out new chapters. So be patient, I will get up on that.

As for my other story, _The Mechanics Behind Every Keyhole_, I'm updating more on that since I'm getting more useful information from the Kingdom Hearts series right now than D. Gray-man so expect more updates on that for now.

Again, I apologize for those faithful readers and reviewers out there who are probably lighting torches and threatening my life right now T^T. I just really need to learn how to balance this with college, my story up for potential publishing (I actually made it up in Creative Writing XP), and well, everything else.

Keep up the support and I will try to update as often as I can!

Thank you and farewell! X3


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